


To Correct a Betrayal

by WizardingWorld97



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-14 21:46:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18060749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizardingWorld97/pseuds/WizardingWorld97
Summary: Haunted by a mistake he made in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric Diggory has to do what must be done to right this wrong.





	1. The Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fanfic, which I wrote nearly 2 years ago. Hope you enjoy reading it!

**To Correct a Betrayal – Chapter One: The Betrayal**

Harry Potter was hurt. The battle against the acromantula had been tough on him. It had been tough on Cedric as well though. They had heavily relied on each other while fighting it. As Harry sat on the ground, looking at his wound while panting, a thought occurred to Cedric.

_It’s so close. I could just take it. I actually deserve it, since I came out of the battle unscathed!_

Then his rational side took over. _But I couldn’t have done it without Harry. He helped me prepare for the first task, earlier this evening he stopped Krum from torturing me, and just now we took on the giant acromantula, which would have killed me if Harry didn’t help me._

“You should take it and end the Tournament!”

Cedric shook awake from his thoughts, and turned to Harry. “What did you say?”

“I said that you should take it. That way the Tournament ends, and we can all rest.”

“I couldn’t take it. You helped me so much in the Tournament. I owe you for all your help.”

“It’s nothing. Hermione even calls it my saving-people thing. Now go on and take it.”

“No, you deserve it, it would be unfair if I won.” Cedric stated it like he wouldn’t budge.

“How about we take it together? We both represent Hogwarts, and we could present a united front across the houses.”

That seemed like an interesting idea to Cedric. A plan formed in his head.

“I can agree to that. Let’s do that.”

They counted down from 3, and when they reached 0, they both made to grab the Trophy. But while Harry grabbed the Trophy, Cedric retracted his hand just before he reached the Trophy. One second later Harry was gone.

_He deserved the win, and he was too noble to take it. I did what I had to do._ He justified himself.

Cedric looked around, expecting the maze to disappear. When it didn’t disappear, worry appeared in Cedric’s mind. He chose to sit down and wait for the task to end, or until someone came to get him out of the maze. What good would it do for him to wander around the maze now. He would just get lost, and if the maze wouldn’t disappear, it could very well be he would miss the teachers who would collect him. He was also very tired, now that the adrenaline rush was over, and he didn’t want to meet more monsters. He leant against the hedge, and soon he drifted to sleep. Just before he went completely out, it occurred to him he could have used the red sparks.

* * *

Cedric woke with a thud. The maze behind his back had disappeared, and his head met the ground in a rough way. Suddenly music started playing, and when he looked around, he saw that he was on the ground of an empty quidditch pitch. The stands, however, were filled with students, and they were cheering in a loud way. Then he saw Harry clinging onto the Trophy, shaking on the ground. The happy music stopped abruptly, and people rushed to Harry’s side.

“He’s back!” he screamed. “Voldemort’s back!”

Fear made its way into Cedric’s heart. _You-know-who is back? How? I thought he was dead!_ He stood up and ran towards Harry.

“Harry, what happened? Are you okay?”

“Voldemort’s back! I saw it with my own eyes!”

“Please tell us what happened, Harry.” said professor Dumbledore, as he arrived as the first of the people in the stands to come to Harry’s aid.

“The Trophy, it took me to a graveyard. While I was looking around, I was stunned from behind. When I woke up, I was bound to a gravestone.”

“What did I say Potter? CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” Professor Moody had reached them as well.

Harry ignored him, or just didn’t hear him in his shocked state, and continued his tale. “There was a big cauldron in front of me. Suddenly Wormtail came outside of the shadows, holding a bundle. He lit the fire under the cauldron, and dropped the bundle in the cauldron. He then threw in some bones, cut off his own hand, and took some of my blood. The next thing I know, Voldemort came out of it!”

More people had reached him, and this last statement sent a shock through all of them.

“He proceeded to call his followers, and…”

“Harry!”

A scream from behind the growing crowd stopped him in the middle of his sentence. The crowd broke a bit away, and Hermione appeared through it, immediately engulfing Harry in a bone-crushing hug.

“Are you alright mate?” said Ron as he came out of the crowd as well.

Dumbledore decided to separate Harry from the immense crowd now standing around Harry.

“Alastor, please take Mr. Potter to the infirmary, while I take care of the crowd.”

Cedric wanted to tag along, but suddenly he heard his father screaming.

“Ced, are you alright, my boy?”

The next moment, Cedric was taken into a hug by both his parents.

“We were so worried. First the Beauxbatons girl was rescued, then the Durmstrang boy, but then it was completely silent for two hours.”

“Two hours?!” Cedric exclaimed. He had no idea he had been sleeping so long. Cedric proceeded to tell his adventures to his parents. He looked over his shoulder once, and saw that professor Moody didn’t take Harry to the infirmary tent, but to Hogwarts. He thought it was odd, but he was sure the retired auror had his reasons. He turned back to his parents, and continued speaking.

That night Cedric lay in the bed in his own dormitory. He didn’t have any serious wounds, so madam Pomphrey had dismissed him to his own dormitory. She had had her hands full on Harry, who had been hit twice by the Cruciatus curse, or so Cedric had heard, and was still shaking.

Sleep wouldn’t come to him though. Fear, regret and betrayal haunted his mind. _If I hadn’t insisted on him taking the Trophy for himself, I could have gone with him. We would have faced this Wormtail person together, and we could have prevented You-know-who from rising again. I should never have tricked him. How does he even feel about my betrayal? Would he ever be able to forgive me?_

This went on for the rest of the night, and in the morning, he still hadn’t had a single second of sleep since his nap in the labyrinth. He did form a plan in his sleepless hours. It would require a whole summer of research, however, and success was far from assured.


	2. The Plan

**To Correct a Betrayal - Chapter Two: The Plan**

A week later, school ended, and all the students were returning home on the Hogwarts Express. It must have been the most silent trip the train had ever experienced, as no-one was talking. Everyone was still thinking on Dumbledore’s speech at the feast the evening before. He had said that Voldemort had returned on the evening of the third task, and that needed to stay safe, and keep in contact with their friends.

Cedric wasn’t thinking about the speech, but of the steps he had to take to bring his plan to a success. First, he would need to study up on Legilimency. Then he would have to break some laws, and then some more. After that was done, he had to train, and then break some more laws. But if his plan worked, it wouldn’t matter if he broke the law.

When he arrived in his home, he immediately went to the library in his home, and took all the books on Legilimency. He spent the next few days reading up all there was to know about Legilimency and Occlumency.

When his girlfriend Cho Chang came by, Cedric convinced her to help him practice his Legilimency. She hadn’t seen him ever since the third task, and wanted to spent time with him. From the look in his eyes, and the state of the library, which told her he hadn’t left the library in days, she knew he was determined to do his, with or without her. Her decision was made, and she stayed to help him as much as she could.

Cedric didn’t tell her of his plan. He knew she would disapprove and try to talk him out of it, or, even worse, would want to tag along. He couldn’t let her break the laws for his own plan, so he did what he had to do to prevent that. This was his responsibility, and he wouldn’t drag others down with him.

After he spent three weeks in the library, training his Legilimency skills with Cho whenever she was around, and, when she wasn’t around, with the house elf, Cedric felt he was ready. He had even found a spell to weaken someone’s mental defences. He was ready for the next stage of his plan. The end of July had almost arrived, so Cedric planned to start the next stage on the first of August.

* * *

It was a chilly summer evening, and Cedric stood outside of a house in its front garden, in the middle of a district in London. The past few days he had spent watching someone, who would have some answers for him.

A quick look around told him no-one was watching, and he cast a quick silencing spell on the door. The silencing spell was followed by a quiet “Reducto.”, and the door fell apart in many pieces, though there was no sound. Cedric cast a silencing spell on his shoes as well, and entered the house. Then he repaired the door, so no-one would notice that he had entered. He went on towards the living room.

When he arrived, he saw a man sitting in a comfy chair, reading a book. He recognised the man as Croaker, his target. He hid himself in the shadows and used the spell to weaken Croaker’s mind. Then he tried to use Legilimency to get the knowledge he needed.

As Croaker was an Unspeakable, his mental defences were strong. Even with the weakening spell it was hard for Cedric to pass them unnoticed. It took him nearly an hour to get through. When he did, he searched through all the memories. It took him 15 minutes more before he found it. He saw it clear in front of him: the page of a book explaining the spell Emeo to the reader. He hadn’t known the spell, but the description told him this was what was needed.

Croaker noticed that his mind wasn’t at the story in the book, but at highly classified information. He didn’t know what lead him to think of it, but his training told him someone was reading his mind. Once he remembered what the spell was for, he was shocked, and let out a gasp.

Cedric stopped using Legilimency as he heard the gasp, afraid he was found out. Croaker sensed that the attack on his mind had stopped, and knew that he had only one last chance. He stood up quickly, and looked around, wand ready in his hand.

“I know you’re there. Surrender now, and we can solve this the easy way.”

Suddenly he was struck with a spell, and fell on the couch. Cedric made sure that the man was out of it, before he obliviated him, and arranged the scene like he fell asleep while reading. He walked out of the room, but before leaving, he woke the man up with a soft “Rennervate.”

* * *

The next week was spent on trying to use the spell. It didn’t take long for him to perfect his pronunciation and wand movement. It wasn’t long until Cedric had to fall back to planning. He had to break into somewhere once more, but this place would have more security. Croaker’s memories had been a great help, and Cedric used them to draw a map and think of a strategy.

The next weeks were spent in the library once more. The time pressed him, since he had to go back to Hogwarts for his last year on the first of September, and that was only 10 days away. He decided to go with his plan in exactly one week, so he could promise his parents he would purchase his school books somewhere in those last days, without losing the focus on his plan.

* * *

The week passed by way too fast, in Cedric’s opinion. He was quite nervous about the next stage of his plan, and he almost called it off. Then he remembered his betrayal, and it shamed him as a proud Hufflepuff to forsake his loyalty.

On the evening itself Cedric went to bed early. When his parents came to check in on him, he faked his sleep. They left after a few seconds, and Cedric jumped out of his bed, wide awake. He opened his window, and climbed down the side of the house. Reaching the ground, he walked to the garage shed and took his broom. Quickly he took off to London, to break into the Ministry of Magic.


	3. Efforts to Make Past Mistakes Right

**To Correct a Betrayal – Chapter Three: Efforts to Make Past Mistakes Right**

Cedric arrived in the middle of London, and landed in a small, empty alley. He disillusioned his broom, placed it against one of the walls and walked onto the street. It was just a small walk to the phone booth which hit the visitor’s entrance to the Ministry. Once he was in the booth, he heard a voice.

“What is your name and reason of visitation?”

“Eh…. I’m Cedric Diggory, and I have come here to defeat the Dark Lord.”

A badge came out of a machine, and on it stood ‘Cedric Diggory – Slayer of Dark Lords’. Cedric look bewildered at it, trying to control his laughter. He picked it up, and put it on his shirt. The booth started its descend into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

When Cedric got close to the fountain, he saw a big poster with Harry’s face on it. ‘The Boy-Who-Lied’ stood underneath it. Cedric looked around, and saw multiple posters of the sort. Apparently, the Ministry had stooped so low as to slander Harry. He made his way towards a counter, where a newspaper was lying. Cedric skimmed through the paper, and found out that Minister Fudge denied all claims Harry made about You-know-who. Also, Harry had stood trial not too long ago, for using underage magic, accompanied by a Muggle. Cedric was glad that he was old enough to cast magic outside of Hogwarts now, otherwise all the preparing would have been noticed. He had been cleared of all charges though, which Cedric was happy to see.

Deciding to move one, Cedric sneaked towards the elevators. From previous visits, he knew there were some guards in a room near the elevators, so he had to be careful. This evening there was only one guard, and he wasn’t looking too sharp. Still, Cedric decided not to underestimate him, and cast a disillusionment charm on himself. He walked on to the elevators, entered one, and announced his destination.

“Department of Mysteries.”

Only after the elevator was gone, he undid the disillusionment charm. Once he arrived, he went straight for the department. Once he entered, he saw that he was in a circle-shaped room, just like in the memories of Croaker. He knew that if he closed the door, the room would spin, and he would lose track of the doors he had tried. He kept the door open, and opened one of the other doors. All he saw was a room filled with brains, so he went on to the next door. Behind that door was a big room, with in the middle a giant arch, and some sort of curtain in it. This was also not his destination, and he looked further.

In his search for the right door, he also came across a giant hall filled with shelves with glass ball stored on them (prophesies, according to Croaker’s memories), and a room which was apparently devoted to the magic of love.

Finally, he found what he was looking for. The room he had wanted to reach was small, and there were only a few cabinets made of glass. After opening one, he took one of the time-turners inside. However, once it was removed, the door locked, and a voice spoke up.

“Please state your name and occupation for identification!”

It was the same voice as the one in the elevator. Quickly, Cedric began turning the device. A loud alarm sounded through the building, and Cedric knew that the aurors were on their way. The alarm stressed him, and it became hard to keep count of his turns. After what seemed a lot of turns, he saw everything blurring beside him. Suddenly, instead of the night of the 29th of August, it was the night of the 28th.

Cedric began making his way outside. In the round room, he had to search for the exit, as all the doors were closed. He came across the room with brains once more, but on the second try luck was on his side.

Once outside of the building, he found out he had overlooked a simple detail. His broom wasn’t there anymore, but inside the garage shed at home. He just stayed inside the alley, and used the time-turner once more. Suddenly, it was afternoon, and he could make use of muggle public transportation. He went to King’s Cross, and from there he went to Ottery St. Catchpole. From there, it was just a small walk. In the forest near the small village, he transfigured an old branch into a hammock, and spent the night there.

* * *

Cedric woke early in the morning, and took care of all the traces of his temporary camp. Then he walked back home. At home, he was careful not to be seen, since he was also in the library right now, and sneaked to the garage shed, to take his broom once more. He flew all the way to Scotland, until he came across a lake with an old castle next to it. He landed at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and used the time-turner again, and this time he took his broom with him.

* * *

It was June 24th once more, and the third task of the Triwizard Tournament had just started. Disillusioning himself and his broom, Cedric made to fly over the maze that was erected on the quidditch pitch. _Wow, this would have been a much better idea to cross the maze. Why didn’t I think of this?_

A ray of light came from far in the maze, which seemed to be the Trophy. Cedric hasted towards it, and landed his broom on the small clearing in front of the cup. There, he waited.

A little while later, he heard voices, and suddenly he heard the familiar sounds of a battle against an acromantula. Cedric shuddered when he thought of the battle. He made his way to where the battle took place. Soon, it ended, and since Harry was preoccupied with his wound, Cedric decided to act.

He walked towards his two-month younger self, and cast the spell he had recently learned.

“Emeo.”

Cedric opened his eyes, and looked at his body. Suddenly, he wasn’t disillusioned anymore. He looked forward, but he saw no other Cedric standing there. _It worked! The spell put me in the body of my younger self, and I have become the younger Cedric. The older version of me is gone!_

“You should take it and end the Tournament!”

Cedric shook awake from his thoughts once more, and turned to Harry. “What did you say?”

“I said that you should take it. That way the Tournament ends, and we can all rest.”

“I couldn’t take it. You helped me so much in the Tournament. I owe you for all your help.”

“It’s nothing. Hermione even calls it my saving-people thing. Now go on and take it.”

“No, you deserve it, it would be unfair if I won.” Cedric stated it like he wouldn’t budge.

“How about we take it together? We both represent Hogwarts, and we could present a united front across all the houses.”

Cedric knew his plan had worked. Now he could go with Harry, and face You-know-wh… no, Voldemort together. He even expected Voldemort, which gave him an advantage.

“That seems like a great plan, Harry”

After counting down, they both took the Trophy, and suddenly, they were out of the maze.

* * *

They landed in a graveyard. Cedric immediately jumped up, wand at the ready, and looked around.

“The cup was a portkey!” Harry exclaimed surprised. “But where are we?”

“I don’t know Harry”

Suddenly, they heard a voice from behind them.

“Kill the spare!”

Cedric turned around, ready to face whatever was there. However, a blinding green light was there, and Cedric knew only one thing. He had made a mistake. However, he stayed true to his principles, and that brought a smile on his face, even though it was a sad smile. Then, Cedric knew no more.

Cedric Diggory was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this fic!


End file.
